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(No Model.) I S ,M G-IEHA DRAWBAR ATTACHMENT FOR UAR COUPLINGS. No. 250,563. Patented Dec. 6, 1881..

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC STMGGIEHAN, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE ATWOOD RAILWAY WHEEL COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DRAW-BAR ATTACHMENT FOR CAR-COUPLINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 250,563, dated December 6, 1881. Application filed August 17,1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ISAAC S. MGGIEHAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jersey City, county of Hudson, State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Draw-Bar Attachments for Oar-Gouplers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in IO draw-barattachmentsforcar-couplers; and the principal features of the invention relate to the construction of a draw-bar attachment with the object not only of resisting all strain that may be brought to bear on the coupler in the r 5 backing or moving forward of the cars, but also of enabling the coupler to act freely and easily when the cars to which it may be attached are going around curves.

Reference being had to the drawing, which shows a top view of the attachment, A is a portion of the coupler.

B and O are two cross-bars, which are placed at either end of twohorizontal beams, indicated by H. These beams, which are attached to the cars at their upper and lower ends, are cut away so as to receive the cross-bars B and O.

The cross-bars B and O are made so as to' move up and down the beams H and against the abutment at each end of the beams.

Two springs are indicated by D, which extend along each of the beams H from one cross bar to the other.

The draw-bar of the coupler is shown by G, and is composed of two parts, respectively indicated by a and a. The part a, which has at one end of it the couplerA, passes through a hole or slot in the cross-bar B. This hole or slot is of a size sufficiently large to admit of the passage and free movement of that portion of the draw-bar, and its shape is indicated on the surface of the cross-bar B by the dotted lines shown in the drawing. The part a is then fastened to the other part,a, by means of a pin, which is indicated by K, and it likewise passes 5 through a hole or slot in the opposite crossbar, 0, said hole or slot being of a size sufficient to admit of the free movement of the part a, and of the shape indicated by the dotted lines on the surface of the cross-bar G. This part a, after passing through the hole or slot in the cross-bar O, is prevented from slipping back through the hole by means of the pin P.

When in the process of coupling one car is backed against another provided with this im- 5 5 provement, the effect will be to force the crossbar B, adjacent to the coupler, back on the springs D, and the consequent strain, instead of being borne entirely by the coupler, will be communicated by the cross-bar to the springs D, which, together with the opposite cross-bar,

C, will be able to counteract its effect. The same effect will take place when the "cars are moving forward. In other words, the shock and consequent strain on a coupler when cars '6 are coupled suddenly will be taken up from the coupler by means of these springs and the cross-bars.

Another important advantage to be gained in the adoption of this improvement will he readily seen when cars provided with this improvement are going around a curve. The coupler A then being turned by the movement of the cars to one side, the draw-bar G by this action of the couplerA will be bent at K, the point where the two parts of the coupler are joined, into the shape of an angle toward the spring which is on the side opposite to the direction of the car. When the cars have passed the curve and are returning to a straight track, the coupler A then being released from its oblique position by the operation, the springs D will act on the cross-bar (J and force it back against the abutments of the beams H, and by this means the bent parts of the draw-bar G- a and atogether with the coupler A, will return to their normal position. This is the most important feature of my invention, for by its use pliability and freedom of movement are imparted to the coupler when cars are going around a curve in the track.

The coupler A, instead of being held rigidly in its position-a circumstance which endangers its working effectually-is allowed by the use ofadraw-bar constructed like G, to conform 5 its movement to that of the cars to which it may be attached.

What 1 claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. A draw-bar attachment for car-couplers, 10o composed of two horizontal beams, H, attached to the car by suitable means, and being cut away to receive two cross-bars,13 and G, placed posed of two parts, a and (6, each part passing on the top of these beams and at right angles through the adjacent cross-bar, and secured to to them, having between them the springs D, each other by means of the pin K, for the purand the draw-bar G, consisting of two parts, pose of giving freedom of movement to the 15 5 a and a, secured to each other by means of a coupler A, substantially as described and set pin, K, one part, a, passing through the crossforth.

bar 13, and the other part, a, passing through the cross-bar O, and being secured on the out- MCGIEHAN side by a pin, as and for the purpose described. Witnesses: to 2. In a draw-bar attachment for car-coup PHILIP T. TIMPSON, lers, the coupler A,having its draw-bar G com- ANsON ATWOOD. 

